Page 63 of A Doctor for Daisy

She hated the look on Heather’s face. The flush from anger and the glossy eyes. “You didn’t tell me you had a one-night stand with Luke.”

“I didn’t know you then,” Heather argued. “You moved in the following day.”

Her best friend had a point. “But you could have told me when you ran into him again and didn’t. And you hid the New Year’s Eve date with him from me too.”

“That was it,” Heather said. “I didn’t after that. And it was the only date we had at that point until the accident.”

“You slept with him,” she pointed out. She didn’t know why she was arguing. Maybe because she wanted to prove she wasn’t the only one hiding things. Or absolve some of her guilt. Yeah, it was the guilt. “Then did it again before the accident.”

“And you knew those things when no one else did. I kind of feel like a fool that I haven’t been around enough to see this.”

“Don’t feel that way,” she said. “I’ve been sneaky and I hate being that way.”

“I just don’t understand why you felt the need to.”

“I told you. I didn’t know how it’d work out. I didn’t want anyone to know if it was only a few dates. I didn’t sleep with him for a few weeks. But we’ve been dating now for almost two months.”

“Two months!” Heather said. “Geez, Daisy. We never keep secrets like that.”

She’d really hurt Heather and hated it. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you a few weeks ago, but we ran into Ryan on a date at Mohegan Sun. He’d said some hurtful things to me in front of Theo and it just brought back memories of my shitty taste in men. I thought, Theo is going to see through me to the core. What I am or where I came from and end it and it’s best no one knows my embarrassment of trying for more than I had.”

“I don’t know that I can talk to you right now,” Heather said, throwing her hands up in the air. “My best friend doesn’t keep secrets and especially doesn’t when she’s feeling this insecure about herself. All you had to do was tell me a month ago or more and I would have said what an idiot you were acting like and saved us both this frustration. You know, like that pact we had about bringing ourselves down.”

Heather picked up her coffee and walked to her room.

She’d messed this up and she realized that part of Heather’s reaction was the fact that Daisy was being so harsh on herself. Heather always told her to not do that. The two of them together had made a pact to pump the other up and prove to the world they were strong and could conquer anything.

Here she went and forgot about it while her friend was thriving.

She didn’t bother to finish her coffee, rather dumping it in the sink. She put her shoes on and left for work. It was early, but she had a ton of orders to fill and then was going to spend the night at Theo’s. She’d text Heather later and let her know she wouldn’t be home. Maybe by then, Heather would calm down some.

She got to work and no one was there yet, as she expected.

She needed to talk to someone and it’s not like she could with a coworker. She decided to call her mother.

“Daisy,” her mother said on the second ring. “You’re calling early. Is everything okay?”

“Sorry,” she said. “Did I wake you?”

“No,” her mother said. “I got up early and Charlie and I have plans for the day.”

“Things seem to be going well there,” she said.

“They are,” her mother said. “What is going on with you and that sexy doctor of yours?”

Her mother was giggling like a teen. “Things are good there too,” she said. “I told Heather about it this morning and she’s not happy I withheld it. I’ve never seen her upset or angry with me like that.”

No way she was telling her mother about her feelings of insecurity. Her mother didn’t need that hurt either. Penny Jones did the best she could and if it wasn’t always enough, then Daisy learned to live with it.

“I’d be mad too,” her mother said. That only added insult to injury. “Heather has a right to be that way. You don’t withhold those things from your best friend. You told me right away. I just assumed Heather knew.”

“I told you because you’re my mother,” she said.

“I’m also your closest friend,” her mother said. “Aside from Heather.”

Her mother didn’t get it. “I need advice,” she said.

“I don’t have any for you,” her mother said. “You have to figure it out on your own. I’ve done that with all my decisions in life. My mother never helped me. I had to learn from my mistakes.”

---